Cassie Duke

It’s a Generation Thing…

Posted Apr 2, 2017

NAR came out with an interesting new survey: 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends. Let’s check it out. This research is pretty interesting, not only because different generations have an impact of home buying activity, but because of the close eye we all have on the millennial generation and whether or not they will enter into the housing market like all other generations traditionally have.

The survey, thankfully, showed that millennials are actually prioritizing affordability, and for parents with young children, the suburbs are in their future. At 85%, millennial buyers are likely to see buying their first home as a good financial investment.

Generation X, who all started their families, bought their first homes at the top of the market and were mid-career when the recession hit, which destroyed any equity they would have had in their homes. They are also the generation with the most student debt-average: $30,000! But, they are now on the rise. Good news, Gen X… The job market is on the rise, and with 41% cumulative rise in home prices since 2011, they finally now have enough equity to sell and trade up to a larger home.

Believe it or not Generation X holds the largest amount of student debt-average of $30,000 per person, and The Baby Boomer’s are also held back by student loan debt. The report also showed that, student loan delayed saving a down payment or home purchase for people as old has 62-70. The student loan debt is mostly incurred from taking care of other family members but many older individuals have just decided to go back to school.

The best news is, Millennials and Gen X do shop online, buyers and sellers are overwhelmingly using a Realtor, in fact a whopping 90%! This resulted in the lowest ever for-sale-by-owner transactions ever at 8%, which means there is no danger that the Realtor-consumer relationship will not fade away any time soon.